


Brothers Under the Sun

by orphan_account



Category: Moana (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Brothers, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Pirate, F/M, Gen, Jedi and Sith are opposing pirate factions, Just wanted an excuse to put my boys on an island, Light Angst, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Moana is the Fett's mom, She isn't actually in this, The crossover only I wanted, and maybe one other person, brothers being brothers, getting in touch with their culture, which is a mix of Mando and Maori
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:42:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24734833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: "I was checking to see if he was dead! Maybe we can eat him.""Fives!" Rex smacked his little brother on the head, earning a yelp and glare, "he's a person! We dont eat people.""Are you sure?" Fives wrinkled his nose, "Never seen one with skin like that. And his hair looks like fire. Maybe he's related to Te Kā?""If he is related to the Fire God do you really think it's a good idea to eat him?"OR: A stranger washes up on the beach of the Fett's Island and he needs their help. Cody needs a little convincing to provide it.
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody & CT-7567 | Rex, CC-2224 | Cody & Obi-Wan Kenobi, CT-7567 | Rex/Ahsoka Tano
Comments: 101
Kudos: 324





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wanderingjedihistorian (RangerJedi67)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RangerJedi67/gifts).



> This isn't so much a crossover with Moana as inspired by it.

Obi wan was pretty sure he wasn't dead.

Pretty sure, but not positive.

His everything hurt and he had saltwater and sand in places where, well he'd grown accustomed to at this point but he would never enjoy it.

The sun was beating down on him and he was pretty sure he lost his hat so he will probably burn. Again.

Oh. Oh wait.

Thats better.

He lifted his head, a fine layer of sand sticking to his cheek as he did so, and opened his eyes to find the sun had been blocked by a pair of tan legs attached to a tall, thin figure clothed in a colorful cloth wrapped around their waist. A long, flattened paddle-like object held in one hand.

"Hello there." Obi Wan tried, though his voice was barely a whisper. He couldn't remember the last time he had water that didn’t taste of salt and seaweed.

The man, closer to a boy Obi Wan realized now that his vision had cleared some, tilted his head and lifted the paddle, jabbing Obi Wan once, not gently, in the ribs with the blunt edge of it.

"Hey!" Dehydrated and only mostly conscious, he made a clumsy attempt at pushing the teen away. The kid seemed amused by this and moved as if to repeat the action, only to stop at a voice from somewhere behind him.

The boy responded in a language of rolling vowels and swallowed consonants that Obi Wan found vaguely familiar, he could probably grasp it if the sudden headache he'd acquired would let up.

Obi Wan realized he'd squeezed his eyes shut when a warm hand pressed to his back and he jerked away, whipping around to face the newcomer.

Dark eyes narrowed at him under a shaved head and an intricate tribal tattoo spanning from his temple to back over his ear, it wrinkled slightly with a frown. Obi Wan couldn't be sure, but the new man seemed disappointed somehow. Which Obi Wan thought, as he felt himself slipping back toward unconsciousness, was a little unfair. It wasn't as if he'd meant to get shipwrecked and stranded at sea for days and days before the tide finally brought him to their island.

"I apologize," he slurred, tongue thick and dry, closing his eyes again without meaning to, "it seems proper introductions will have to wait."

* * *

Kix grasped the foreigner's shoulders and gently lowered him to the sand, his head lolling back freely.

"Fives! What did you do?"

Kix glanced over to see Rex racing across the sand toward them, Ahsoka on his heels as always.

"Why do you always assume I did something?"

"You were poking him with your Patu." Kix muttered, prodding along the unconscious body, looking for injuries.

"I was checking to see if he was dead! Maybe we can eat him."

"Fives!" Rex smacked his little brother on the head, earning a yelp and glare, "he's a person! We dont eat people."

"Are you sure?" Fives wrinkled his nose, "Never seen one with skin like that. And his hair looks like fire. Maybe he's related to Te Kā?"

"If he is related to the Fire God do you really think it's a good idea to eat him?" Ahsoka spoke up, poking Fives' shoulder.

The boy shrugged.

Kix lifted one of the many layers of cloth covering the man's torso, revealing a long bloody gash, the salt water and sand having irritated the wound so that it was weeping and swollen red and painful.

"He bleeds. I'd say that makes him human enough." He said grimly.

Fives had the grace to look abashed.

"Alright, I need him in the Healing Hut. Rex?"

The blonde nodded and leaned down so Kix could help drape the unconscious man over his shoulder. Rex grunted, shifting the dead weight and started off down the beach.

"Fives, you can go tell Cody."

"What? Why do I have to tell him?"

"You found him!"

Fives dropped his head back and muttered a prayer for strength to the gods.

Ahsoka clapped him on the shoulder. "Dont worry vod'ika, I'll go with you."

The teen rolled his eyes, practiced enough at reading Ahsoka's smiles to know she only meant to go along so she could watch when Fives got in trouble for something that was _so_ not his fault.

"Great." He muttered.

* * *

Cody sat cross-legged around the fire in the Communal Hut. The village elders were giving him updates on crops and weather and plans for expansion and it was all so very dry it was all he could do to keep his eyes open and nod along.

Irritation flared up anew at his father for his overprotectiveness in not allowing any of his sons to leave the island anymore. It was the worst for Fives and Echo, the twins had wanted nothing more than to get out on the ocean since the first time they laid eyes on it.

But at times like these Cody could certainly understand the allure of a wide blue span of water with no one else for miles.

Elder Kai’s explanation of the planting grounds available on the leeward side of the island was interrupted by someone bursting into the building entrance.

“Cody! You’re needed at the Healers.”

Cody was already on his feet. The only reason he would be called to the healers so urgently was for an injury to one of his brothers or an attack from a predator on the island.

“What is it?”

He looked past the boy who’d come bursting in to see Fives and Ahsoka approaching from the beach. Fives looking a bit cowed and Ahsoka was smug. At least that meant it wasn’t Echo or Rex that was hurt. And if it had been Tup the entire village would be in arms.

“Fives? What’s happened? Who’s with Kix?”

Fives sent a dark look over his shoulder when Ahosoka gave him a light shove forward.

“It’s nothing bad.” Fives assured him, seeing the worry already giving way to confusion as Fives turned to lead the way. “A man washed up on the beach. Not one of ours.”

Cody frowned. “A man?” He looked up to see a crowd forming around the Healer tent, woman huddled in groups talking in tumbling chatter and kids stretching up on their tiptoes at the openings and peaking around tapestries hung as rudimentary walls.

“Yeah. Pale skin and hair like fire. Kix thinks he was adrift at sea for a few days.”

Cody just nodded. He was sure his brother was doing his best but his explanation wasn’t actually explaining much.

Ducking into the hut, Cody saw Kix kneeling over a body with Rex and Helix at his side.

Rex looked up, said something to Kix, who nodded quickly, and got up to approach him. Helix moved to take Rex's vacated spot.

"What happened? Fives' explanation left some things to be desired."

Rex scratched the back of his neck. "Not sure. Fives found him on the beach. He's wearing a lot of coverings," he gestured to the layers of clothing covering the man from his thick soled boots to multiple layers covering his torso. A contrast to Cody's people, who mostly only wore light wrappings made of a single rectangle of fabric and went barefooted, making it easy to adapt to the changing island ground, from rocky mountainside to sandy beach, and never lose one's footing. "He also was carrying this."

Rex turned to retrieve something from the table by the door, handing it to Cody. It was a long object, sharp and made of a material he didn't know the name of. An elegant weapon, held like their Patu but lighter. A weapon Cody was, unfortunately, familiar with. His gaze went to Rex who nodded grimly. 

He recognized it too.

"You're sure he was alone?" Cody said, keeping his voice low. His heart was racing in spite of his best effort to stay calm. If they'd found their island, if this man was only the first... 

"We didn't see anyone else. I've sent Waxer and Boil to scout around the village and Wooley's gone up to Cheif's Rock to check the horizon to see if there are anymore ships." Rex answered and Cody was thankful, not for the first time, for his brother's ability to think four steps ahead and take decisive action. "So far, theres no sign of anyone else."

Cody pursed his lips and raised his voice slightly to the other side of the room.

"Kix? When will he be well enough to speak with us?" He asked, studying the weapon with a frown. Rex crossed his arms over his chest.

"He's sleeping," Kix stood and approached them with a world weary sigh he'd been perfecting since he was eight years old. "I'm hoping he'll stay that way until tomorrow at least. Give the balm some time to draw the heat out of the wound."

"Alright. But I don't want you to stay with him by yourself..."

"Cody, he's injured. He can barely walk." Kix protested. Kix never took kindly to receiving orders in his own Healers Hut. "I think we'll be fine." 

"Kix," Cody's voice was sharp, "This isn't up for a debate. I don't want you left alone with him." 

"I can handle it." Kix shot back, not giving an inch. 

Cody sighed heavily. His brothers were all so stubborn. Even if Cody was only trying to keep them safe. "Fine. But I'm going to ask Jesse to come stay with you." 

"Cody-"

"Kix."

Kix held his oldest brother's eyes for several seconds before relenting. "I'll send Helix to get him."

Cody nodded, more relieved than triumphant at having won the argument. "Thank you."

Kix pursed his lips and nodded and Rex clapped a hand down on Cody's shoulder, breaking the tension with a grin.

"C'mon, I've got a new batch of Shinies waiting for me on the sparring fields. They'd love to show off for our Alor."

The corner of Cody's mouth kicked up. "Anything to get out of that Council meeting." He looked back at Kix. "I want to be notified if anything changes."

"Of course."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get more complicated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, I totally didn't anticipate so many people being into this idea. I'm so glad! Thanks so much for the comments, keep em coming!

Rex and Cody stood off to the side on an embankment overlooking the sparring grounds, talking quietly but mostly watching as Ahsoka led the younglings through the first set of traditional spar positions while they chanted a ceremonial haka with all the vigor of vode who had never known defeat.

Ahsoka grinned up at them, causing Rex to be completely distracted from what he'd been saying and Cody rolled his eyes.

"When are you going to marry that girl so you can have a hut of your own to give her those disgusting looks in?"

Rex didnt look up. "As soon as you get off your butt and find someone of your own so I’m free to do so vod."

“Don’t try to put that on me. You could marry her tomorrow if you weren’t being so neurotic about building that hut of yours.” Cody snorted. “Anyway, I’d waive my right as firstborn if you would agree to never make that face in front of me again."

"No way. You're not pawning those Council meetings off on me that easily. Besides, the two of us have made a bet to see who we can get to roll their eyes the hardest. So far Wolffe’s in the lead.”

Cody sighed deeply as if his life were a burden. "It was worth a try."

"Alor?"

They both turned to see a middle aged woman approaching holding a basket full coconuts with a troubled look on her face.

Cody stepped away and Rex watched him bend low to speak with her. She shook her head and he took a coconut from the basket and cracked it open, nodding along as she gestured toward the grove of trees in the distance. His shoulders had gone tense, muscles tight across his back and hunched up by his ears and Rex frowned. He gave Cody a lot of crap, but the truth of the matter was Rex felt a little guilty for the weight of leadership that Cody had to shoulder mostly alone. Jango spent so much time voyaging he was rarely around, leaving Cody effectively acting as Mand'alor in their Buir's absence.

Cody gestured toward a small clearing nearby and the woman smiled and bowed slightly, collecting her basket of remaining coconuts and walking away.

Rex approached Cody as the woman left. He was still staring down at the coconut in his hands.

"What was that all about?"

With another sigh, this one layered with stress and worry, he wordlessly handed his brother half the opened fruit.

Rex clenched his teeth.

The husk looked healthy enough at first. But upon closer inspection Rex saw the brown fibers were flaking and too dry to act as weaving. Inside the creamy white flesh was marred with black veins and a slimy, unappetizing liquid. The texture was grainy as well, as if the fruit had been left to rot on the ground for months, instead of picked just that day.

"Another one?"

Cody hmm'd. "An entire grove. The last one that was unaffected. I told her we we would start a new one but..." he trailed off, shaking his head, staring out at the ocean where the sky met the water. "Between the coconuts and the fish in the reef I...I just don't know. What will we do?"

Rex bumped his shoulder against his brother's.

"We have the preserved food. Plenty of dried fish. We'll be fine until the next harvest."

"I'm not sure there will be another harvest, Rex. Whatever this is," he gestured toward the sickly fruit in Rex's hands. "I dont know how to stop it. This island is dying."

"Then we'll go to a new island. When Buir gets back we'll hear what he's found and we'll go."

" _If_ there is another island. He's been voyaging for months and he hasn’t found an uninfected land. I just…I don’t know, Rex.”

Rex bit his lip, his stomach flipping at the defeated tone in his brother's voice and the way Cody frowned, staring, unseeing, at the water.

He breathed deeply trying to rid himself of the uncomfortable feeling.

“Try not to worry, we'll figure something out." Cody didn't answer so Rex bumped his shoulder again. "We should go. If we don’t get latemeal started Fives and Echo will and I am too tired to deal with a fire tonight.”

Cody smirked and, though Rex could tell it didn't reach his eyes, he felt a bit triumphant.

“We better go then.”

“So?”

Cody looked up from his bowl. “Yes?”

Echo raised an eyebrow. “Who is he?”

Beside him in Fives’ lap Tup was happily smearing Mango all over his face and into his hair. His older brother, who was using Tup as something of a dish rest, didn’t notice.

Their hut was not quite at the center of the village, but it was nearest to the Communal Hut used for Council meetings. Now, though, the village was dark, each Aliit having retreated to their own huts to wind down for the day and sleep away the heat of the night.

In the Fett Hutt the fire pit burned low, just enough light to eat and see by, all trying not to notice the painfully obvious empty spaces in their circle.

Cody shrugged, nonchalant, answering around a piece of mango, “I don’t know.”

Echo rolled his eyes long sufferingly. “Please. You know we’re not kids anymore, right? We can tell when you’re lying.”

Cody exchanged a glance with Rex when he reached for the pitcher of water.

“That’s how.”

They looked over to meet their younger brother’s suspicious gazes.

“When you look at Rex. Like you’re checking to see if he’ll back your story. That’s how I can tell you’re lying.”

“Which is ridiculous.” Fives chimed in, “Because he can’t lie for osik so it doesn’t matter anyway.” Tup grabbed his brother’s fingers and pulled them into his mouth, sucking remnants of smoked pork off them, much to Fives’ disgust. “Gross Tup’ika.”

“Ika!” Tup crowed happily. Rex and Cody grinned indulgently at the toddler and Fives rolled his eyes.

“So tell us. Who’s the man from the beach?” Echo said, calling them back to the issue at hand.

“I know you must know something. That vein in your forehead is about to burst from stress.” Fives added wiping his hand on his maro and the woven tapestry on the floor.

Cody sighed. “You’re really annoying, you know that?”

“Thanks,” Fives grinned, all teeth.

This time it was Rex who rolled his eyes.

“Cody.” Echo said, drawing them all up short with the serious tone. “Is it true? About his weapon?”

Cody looked across the hut at his vod, brown eyes as full of trust now as they had been the first time Cody held him after he was born. Sometimes he forgot he wasn’t a baby in dire need of protection like he’d been all those years ago.

He never forgot how often he’d failed to protect him in all the years since. 

“Yes.” He said finally. “He carries the weapon of a _Jetti_.”

Fives swore and Tup immediately repeated it, causing Rex to growl and pluck the toddler out of the teen’s arms. He stood and started walking a slow circle around them, a small bounce in his step in an effort to put the child to sleep. Echo didn't break eye contact with his brother.

“Are they coming back?” His voice was almost a squeak and Cody immediately reached over, laying a hand on the back of his neck.

“No. There’s just the one. And even if there were more that’s not something for you to worry about. Nothing is going to happen to you. To any of us.”

Echo swallowed thickly. “But Buir says-”

“I know what Buir says. But you don’t need to worry. You understand? Rex and I have it under control.”

Echo nodded and bit his lip while Fives’ face had fallen into a mask of stone, fear hidden by determination.

“Should have killed that _chakaar_ when I found him.” He spat, angry tears welling up in his eyes.

“Easy _Rayshe’a_.” Cody said, giving his best lighthearted grin. “He’s all alone, remember? _Jetti_ almost always travel in pairs. In fact, he probably found the weapon. Meant to trade it to us for something. I bet he has nothing to do with them at all.”

Cody must have been better at lying than Echo and Fives gave him credit for because they both relaxed and, after a few moments, fell easily back into their usual banter.

Satisfied, Cody sat back and went back to picking at his food, no longer hungry. Feeling eyes on him, he looked up at Rex. His brother stood just outside the light from the fire, his face held carefully neutral. Tup was drooling on his shoulder but Cody could see the way he held the sleeping toddler protectively against his chest.

Rex dipped his chin minutely and Cody felt a little more at ease. For all that he didn’t want his younger brothers to worry, he was glad Rex was there to shoulder the burden of knowledge with him.

And while he’d been upset at Jango for not being there earlier that day, he was suddenly very glad his father was nowhere near the island right then.

He would have killed the _Jetti_ before anyone had a chance to ask any questions.

* * *

Obi wan awoke to a dull ache on his side and a pounding headache, but overall feeling much better than before. And certainly better than the last few times when he’d been awakened by a wave of cold water and the feeling of nothing under his feet, worrying about shadows in the water and on the horizon.

A voice snapped out words in a foreign language beside him and he turned to see the same pinched disappointment he remembered from the beach.

“Hello.” He grunted, attempting to sit up, peering across the darkened room. There were coverings across the openings keeping it dim, a fact for which he was appreciative as his head continued to thrum. A hand pressed insistently against his shoulder and the man spoke again, hissing vowels and pursed lips and Kenobi smiled.

“It’s not as bad as it looks.” The words were a little clumsy, he was out of practice, but his Mando’a apparently was still passable because the hand jerked back and the man from the beach narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

“You understand me?”

Obi Wan nodded. “It’s a different dialect than I’m familiar with, but it appears to be similar enough to what Satine taught me for us to communicate.”

A carved cup was pushed into his hand and Obi Wan drank the water gratefully.

“You have a name?”

“Obi Wan,” He answered, handing it back and frowned when the hand returned, pushing him back to lay down. “And you are?”

“Kix. You are a terrible patient.”

“So I’ve been told.” Obi Wan smiled, letting himself be manhandled back to a prone position and sighed. That really did feel much better on his wound.

Kix grunted. “I feel sorry for your Healer. You tried to get up three times during the night. Kept disturbing your bandages.”

Speaking of, Obi Wan glanced down to assess the damage. He flushed slightly, he’d been divested of the majority of his clothing, only a patterned weaving preserving his modesty and a bandage that smelled of menthol and citrus wrapping his torso over the dull ache of what he knew to be a nasty sword wound.

“How did this happen?” Kix gestured to his side.

“Dooku.”

Kix didn’t have a reaction to that, not that he should. It would be extremely unlikely that anyone here had heard of him.

“I appreciate all your help, but I need to get going.” Obi Wan said, attempting to sit up again.

Kix’s hands were there stopping him immediately.

“You’re not going anywhere, I just got the wound cleaned and wrapped. You’re not going to go undoing all that hard work by pushing yourself too soon.”

“I understand that but-”

“I’m sure you do. Yet you’re still trying to stand.”

“-but I can’t stay here. I need to talk get a boat and get back to Anakin.”

“Who’s Anakin? _Sit down_.”

Obi Wan relented with a wince and a sigh. “My brother. He’s in danger.”

Kix paused. “What kind of danger?”

Obi Wan pursed his lips. “Do you have any brothers?” He asked instead of answering.

“Five.”

“Then you understand. I can’t leave him. My ship was wrecked in a storm but I need to get back to him. He’s alone and he doesn’t realize the danger he’s in. If I could just talk to your chief about borrowing a boat I could go find him.”

Kix bit his lip. “You’ll have to talk to Cody about that.” When he was confident Obi Wan wasn’t going to move again, he leaned away and retrieved a bowl from the ground and scooped out a handful of it's contents, smearing it across Obi Wan’s forehead.

“What is-”

“It’s for the headache you’re hiding.”

Kenobi hmm’d. He couldn’t argue, as the salve was already loosening the vice across his forehead.

“You seem to have some practice with terrible patients.”

Kix smirked. “You’re nothing compared to my _ori’vode_.” He set aside the bowl. “Rest for a few hours and I’ll talk to Cody about letting you come to midmeal. And you can ask him about a boat. Alright?”

Obi Wan nodded, letting his eyes close. “If you insist.”

“Oh, l do.” Kix muttered, turning toward the doorway. He could hear the general din of activity that followed Cody and Rex wherever they went and ducked under the tapestry he’d tacked over the opening to cut them off before they could burst in and rile up his patient.

“Kix I need to speak with-”

Kix caught his brothers by the upper arm and dragged them away from the door.

“No.”

“But Kix.” Cody protested, causing the younger man to tighten his hold on them both.

“No. He’s injured and he’s under my care. He’s doing better, but he’s not ready to be up and about yet. If I see enough of an improvement I’ll bring him to the meal this afternoon. Okay?” Kix crossed his arms. Rex turned to look at his brother. Cody may have been Alor when Jango wasn’t on the island, and the oldest of all the Fett boys...but no one got the upper hand with Kix when he had his mind set on helping a patient.

Cody sighed. “Fine. But can’t you tell us anything?”

"He's giving you a run for being my least favorite patient and," he dropped his arms and got a slightly pained look on his face. “I think he needs our help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mando'a:  
> vod/vode - brother/s  
> ori'vode - older brothers  
> osik - shit  
> chakaar - jerk or thief, offensive  
> rayshe'a - five  
> Jetti - Jedi
> 
> Māori or Samoa cultural terms:  
> Maro - a a frontal apron tied around the waist  
> Haka - a ceremonial dance or challenge in Māori culture  
> Patu (from chapter 1) - a club or pounder used by the Māori


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Questions asked, answered, and asked again.

None of the Fetts had been surprised when Rex showed up at morning meal one day with a swirling tattoo reachinf up from his chin and sprawling across his cheek to curl around his eye. No one was surprised, becausethey'd seen the original and if there was one thing Rex was known for it was declaring, loud and clear, when he wanted something.

Getting an exact replica of Ahsoka's tattoo, the one that curved from her left shoulder blade down along her spine until it dipped down below her wrap, shouted from the proverbial rooftops exactly what Rex wanted.

Rex was for Ahsoka. Had been since the day they laid eyes on each other when they were eight years old. She beat him at an unsanctioned spar behind the Communal Hut and he hadn't had eyes for anyone else since.

They werent married yet. But only because Rex refused to have the ceremony until he'd finished building their own hut. It was a small structure on the edge of the village, far enough away to allow the newlyweds privacy, close enough not to arouse suspicion.

And Cody was happy for his brother.

That didn't mean he didn't wish they would stop drooling all over each other when he was trying to eat.

But they'd been apart all morning. In fact it almost seemed like they were showing a measure of restraint due to their unexpected guest. So that was something.

Kix had ensured the Twins were invited to eat at Jesse's Aliit hut with him. Cody hadn't felt quite up to exposing them to the Jedi and whatever the afternoon would bring.

Cody turned away from the lovebirds to face the man sitting on his other side.

Though Kix had deemed the Jedi, Obi Wan, too injured to join them for mid meal, he had allowed Cody and Rex to come to the Healers Hut instead. 

Cody grunted when Tup came and plopped down in his lap, thrusting a half gnawed on chunk if coconut into his face, drool covering the toddler's hand and chin.

"Coco?"

Cody grinned at the toddler and ruffled his mountain of hair. "Thanks Tup'ika, but I've got my own."

"Your son?" Obi Wan inquiered in a broken accent that was familair, but not quite right.

"My brother. The youngest of seven."

He frowned. "I thought Kix said there were six in total."

"There are, now." Cody shifted, glad that Rex was so wrapped up in Ahsoka beside him he wasnt paying attention and Tup was too young to understand.

"Tup's mother and the third oldest, Boba, were lost at sea just over a year ago."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

Cody dipped his chin, not knowing how to respond to sympathy from the man. It hadn't been easy, it didn't help that the only way Jango seemed able to deal with it was to be away as often as possible and to ensure that none of his other sons ever boarded a boat beyond the reef ever again.

But the last place Cody expected to hear a kind word was from a Jedi. He even seemed to mean it.

"What about your mother?"

Cody stared down at his food, pulling small peices off his fish to hand to Tup.

Rex had apparently been paying more attention than Cody realized because he began to answer. "She was killed over ten years ago in a battle..."

"Ne'johaa. It doesn't matter." Cody snapped and Rex looked more surpried than anything. Beside him, Ahsoka frowned.

"I have a brother myself." Swinging his eyes between the brothers, they seemed to be having some kind of silent conversation. "His name is Anakin. I can't imagine..." he trailed off, lost in thought, before shaking himself slightly and flushing at Cody's steady look. "It's one of the reasons I wanted to ask you about the boats. I need to get back to him as soon as possible. I'm...worried for him."

Cody nodded, finding his footing in a topic that wasn't one he considered too raw to touch.

"Yes, Kix mentioned that. What kind of boat did you have in mind?" His tone stayed friendly, but his eyes were sharp.

"Whatever you can spare would be fine. Though something large enough for the open sea would be preferable." Obi Wan cast his eyes around the hut. Rex was watching him carefully and Ahsoka was pretending to be busy feeding Tup. Though he'd just met the man he could feel the tension flowing off Cody in waves. Obviously, whatever it was that Rex had been about to say was important. 

"I must say, I'm surprised." Cody said.

Obi Wan raised an eyebrow.

"Chakaar usually take what they want without asking." Cody saw Rex and stiffen in his peripheral vision, but held his ground and Obi Wan's gaze.

"I take it you've spent time on the seas yourself."

Cody didnt quite nod. "We have been...visited by those that use weapons like yours. It was not pleasant."

Obi wan’s eyes went to where his sword had sat near the door, before it was removed during one of his unintended naps. He shifted, uncomfortable.

"Generally, there are two factions who use weapons like that. The Jedi, and the Sith. The Sith have been known to take what they want, oppress the weak and destroy anyone who dares defy them. Jedi hold themselves to a higher standard."

"Which are you?" This time the question came from Rex. Obi wan's eyes smiled even if his mouth didnt.

"I should hope the answer to that was obvious."

Cody' studied him for a long moment. "I suppose we'll have to see."

Obi Wan looked defeated but seemed to accept that was the best he could hope for at the moment.

"I would like to pay you for the services of a boat," he said, "but I'm afraid I dont have anything for trade except myself."

Rex snickered and Cody raised an eyebrow, watching red creep up Obi Wan's neck, fascinated. Everyone Cody had ever known was much darker skinned and didnt change colors like this.

"I meant, I could provide labor, for trade for use of a boat." Obi Wan cleared his throat. "And I have some experience with various plant. Perhaps I could provide labor for harvesting."

Cody tilted his head, interested.

"What kind of experience?"

Obi Wan looked up, surprised by the obvious interest in his tone. His cool, calculating demeanor somewhat softened by the change in topic.

"Well, I've done quite a lot of traveling, as you might imagine." Cody nodded his understanding so Obi Wan wouldnt have to expound. "I've seen many more plant varieties than I otherwise would have. And I rather enjoy studying so I’ve learned about-”

“What about diseases?” Cody interrupted, exchanging a look with Rex. “Plant based ones. Have you any experiences with those?”

“Some.” He dipped his piece of meat in the red sauce he’d been given. “You having a problem?”

“You could say that.”

Obi Wan’s brow furrowed and he glanced at Rex And Ahsoka, who were watching him with more intensity than seemed required of a discussion of a few diseased trees.

“Will you show me?”

Outside the sun beat down hot and Obi Wan let his shirt hang open in hopes of staying a bit cooler. He was only slightly miffed that his companions seemed completely unbothered by the heat. He fell into step beside Cody and they were a few paces away from the hut when a feminine voice called out behind them.

“Ahsoka! Will you come help teach the dual-handed Patu attack? You said you would today.” A teenage girl had run up to their quartet and was hanging off Ahoska’s arm, pulling her away from where Rex had an arm wound around her waist.

“Barriss, I-”

“It’s alright ‘Soka.” Rex smiled, dragging the girl into to his chest to kiss her with such passion Obi Wan flushed and turned away. Cody rolled his eyes.

“Today, Rex.”

Rex pulled back, grinning and Ahsoka smiled up at him. She reached up to boop him on the nose. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

She turned and grasped Barriss’ hand, the two girls taking off at a full run with Barriss’ voice carrying back a plaintive _you two are disgusting_.

“Your women help teach your fighting?” Obi Wan raised an eyebrow thoughtfully.

Rex shot him a dark look. “Ahsoka is one of our most proficient warriors.”

Obi Wan nodded, dipping his chin in apology. “I meant no disrespect. Your culture bears some remarkable similarities to the islands of Mandalore. I wonder if perhaps you share a common ancestry.” He said thoughtfully, mostly to himself.

“It’s possible. Our people have often split off on different islands. Some staying behind and others leaving to find new places.”

Obi Wan looked around, observing the village as it gave way to more untamed bush. The foliage grew thicker as they approached the bottom of the mountain that protected the island from the harsh North winds.

“Have you ever had any dealings with the Kryze clan of Sundari?”

Rex shrugged and held a handful of large palm leaves out of the way for Obi Wan to duck around.

“Our father’s grandmother was called Kryze. Before she marched away.”

Obi Wan didn’t get a chance to speculate on that because the ground had stopped abruptly, dropping away in a cliff that stretched out into ocean a hundred feet below.

“This is what I wanted to show you.”

Cody took a step to the side, revealing the cliff and the vines and trees growing out of the side. Obi Wan’s stomach turned to ice.

The black veins crawling up the side of the mountain were ugly and out of place in the sweeping blues and greens of the island. Crawling up from the sea below where the black tendrils of creeping death choked the life out of every plants and tree they touched. The trees withered and the bushes and grasses turned brown, dry and sickly. A shiver ran across his arms, and he didn't stop to think about whether the air truly was colder here of if it was all in his head.

Obi Wan knelt, getting a closer look at the menacing lines of black, but very carefully did not touch.

“Do you know what’s causing it?”

He turned around to find the brothers looking at him with identical looks of concern. Rex’s broader build was made more severe by his frown and crossed arms, while Cody, still muscular and lean, stood slightly hunched, the burden of leadership weighing on him at all times.

He sighed. “Unfortunately. Yes. I do.” He turned and looked out toward the line where the sky met the sea. “The Sith.”

* * *

Obi Wan stood off to the side of the sparring grounds with Ahsoka. He was sitting, per Kix's insistence. Ahsoka was polite and sat a few feet away from him, but always kept him in her peripheral vision and Obi Wan but was under no delusions that she was anything less than a guard at the moment.

"I've never seen this fighting style before," he observed after a while. It was a smaller group. Mostly men Anakin's age or older, with the exception being a handful of women and The Twins, who looked to be around seventeen, Obi Wan guessed. He knew they had names, but could never remember what they were and almost everyone seemed to refer to them as a Unit anyway.

The group had formed a circle with Rex and Cody in the middle. Rex held the paddle like object Obi Wan remembered from the beach in a ready position in front of him and Cody mimicked the posture with a long straight stick about twice the length of his arm. They were both talking, gesturing, would come together in a flurry of punishing strikes and defences, only to stop and repeat the entire sequence slowly and with precise instruction.

Beside him, Ahsoka smiled.

"Thats probably because the Mand'alor invented it. After the attack. He's been training his sons in the style for nearly a decade. And they started training the rest of us a few years ago."

Obi Wan turned. "The attack?"

Ahsoka raised an eyebrow and pushed one long braid over her shoulder.

"He didnt tell you?" She paused and Obi Wan shook his head. "Of course not. He's still deciding what he thinks of you."

She looked back at the sparring circle. The group had broken off into pairs, Rex and Cody walking amongst them, correcting and commending.

Seeing one avenue of questioning blocked, Obi Wan tried for another. "What do you call them? The weapons?"

"The wide flat one is called a Patu. The other is just a training tool." She cut her eyes quickly to Obi Wan and away agin. "We call it the _Jetti'kad_."

Obi Wan startled at that and looked at her. Ahsoka raised an eyebrow, unflinching.

"Well," he let out a long breath, "I suppose that clarifies who the adversary was in this 'attack' I keep hearing about. And the looks I've been getting."

"I should hope so," Ahsoka snorted. "They said you were smart."

Obi Wan looked on silently for a few moment minutes. "What happened?"

Ahsoka just shrugged. "Its not my place to say if the Alor has seen fit not to reveal it to you. Just be glad it was Cody who found you and not Jango."

"Why is that?"

"You would already be dead." She said simply.

"Then why am I still alive?" He asked curiously, sounding very relaxed for someone who had just realized he was enjoying the hospitality of people who considered him their enemy.

"I told you, Cody is still making up his mind about you. He's trying to decide if he can trust you." Obi Wan frowned and she continued. "Rex says you are going to try and help us with the Black. That has helped your case."

"I've tried to explain that the Jedi and the Sith are not one in the same. I'm not sure he believes me."

Ahsoka shrugged. "Well maybe you should prove it."

"How?"

She shrugged again. Watching the spar.

A few minutes later when she heard Obi Wan move Ahsoka didnt get up to follow. She watched him walk toward the group, the sparring students pausing their movements, following him with their eyes, then heads, thenfinally their whole

Bodies turned to track his movements as he approached the Alor and his Second. Obi Wan made his way directly to the center of the circle and spoke a few words to Cody, who somewhat reluctantly handed over his _Jetti'kad._

Obi Wan turned, said something to Rex, who responded with a grin and got into a fighting stance. Obi Wan's attack was slow, controlled, talking through each move, each follow through, before repeating the entire sequence and picking up speed.

Ahsoka got up and made her way into the group, noting with interest the thoughtful look on Cody's face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mando'a:  
> ne'johaa - shut up  
> jetti'kad - Jedi sword (author derived)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buir comes home. He is Not Pleased.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the kind words!

The next day Cody cancelled most of his Council meetings for the week and he and Rex made Obi Wan explain everything he knew of the Jedi and the Sith, their differences and commonalities and, most importantly, The Sith Dark Arts. Most of the meetings took place in the Healing Hut, since Kix had been none to pleased when he found out Obi Wan had been sparring with his injury and confined him to bed for several days out of spite.

Rex and Cody had been allowed to stay but were politely asked, with a smile of teeth and geniality, not to work his patient up more than necessary.

And they both knew a threat when they heard one.

“I’m not sure exactly how,” Obi Wan said at one point, gesturing toward the rotten fruits and dying land around them, “But I do know Dooku and Palpatine are behind this. They are also the ones who have my brother. If I were able to find them, I could get him back and maybe find a way to stop this disease from spreading.”

Rex and Cody agreed.

"You'll need help."

"I'll manage."

Rex grinned and shook his head as if Obi Wan were an especially hilarious Shiny, Cody set his jaw. 

"All the same. We'll be coming with you."

“No, absolutely not, l can’t ask that of you,” Obi Wan said, shaking his head and staring at his food instead of eating it.

Cody rolled his eyes, relaxed in a way that had become second nature over the last week and a half. Beside him Rex scoffed.

“For the last time you’re not asking, Obi Wan,” He clarified, bored with this argument, “It’s _our_ island that’s being killed as much as it is _your_ brother thats in danger. And I really don’t understand how you think you’re going to take on an entire Sith fleet by yourself with a single boat.”

Obi Wan struggled to answer and Cody cut in. “We’re coming with you. And that’s final.”

And so the planning began. And as the saying goes, the first step is always the hardest.

* * *

Jango’s return brought joy and celebration to the island of Motonui. His fleet of boats were guided ashore easily and the men he’d taken with him poured down onto the beach, snatching women and children up into hugs and laughter.

Echo and Fives reached him first, all grins and endless questions about the things he’d seen and the people he met.

Cody followed along, wearing his Tuiga as tradition dictated, Tup on his hip and Rex trailing along beside him with Ahsoka.

Tup lunged for his father as soon as he was within reach and Jango laughed, throwing the toddler up into the air and earning a shriek of glee.

“My sons,” Jango said finally, turning to greet his eldest. He pulled Cody in by the shoulder, pressing their foreheads and noses together before turning to do the same to Rex. He smirked at Ahsoka who had Rex's hand clasped tightly in her own.

“Are you my daughter yet?”

She raised a playful eyebrow. “Not yet. I think Rex is stalling.”

Rex huffed and Jango chuckled. “I’ll have to talk to him about that then,” he smiled and bumped his forehead against hers as well. “ _Su’cuy ad_.”

Ahsoka grinned at that. “ _Su’cuy Manda’lore_.”

He turned to raise an eyebrow at his second eldest and Rex cast his eyes away and reached up to scratch the back of his neck.

“I’m almost done with the dwelling, _buir_. You told me never to marry a girl unless I was ready to keep the rain off her head. She would have to stay confined to just a half the hut as it is currently.”

Jango bounced Tup on his hip, turning to lead the way off the beach and back to the village. “Well get a move on, son, whats the hold up?”

Rex exchanged a look with Cody. “We’ve been busy.”

“Oh? And what could be more important than marrying this fine young lady and giving me grandchildren?”

Cody was the one to answer. “We’ll explain after we eat. _Buir_ ,” he stepped up to be in step with his father and lowered his voice, “did you find any uninfected lands?”

Jango’s face went serious and his brow furrowed. “No. Not yet.” He cast a glance to Cody. “Has it gotten worse?”

Cody nodded and waited until Jango placed a squirming Tup on the ground and Rex and Ahsoka had escorted himfar enough away no one was within earshot before he spoke again.

“I think there may be a way to fix this. There's someone you should meet.”

* * *

It did not go well.

“Absolutely not, _Kote_. Have you taken all leave of your senses?”

Cody winced as his father’s voice boomed. He could just imagine everyone in the village sitting around their latemeal fires, pretending not to hear the two of them arguing. Their huts were well built and sturdy enough to withstand all but the worst of the sea’s storms but they were _not_ especially sound proof.

“ _Buir_ if you would just listen-”

“I did listen. I’ve heard what you have to say and I cannot believe you would want to team up with a _Jetti_ of all things. Have you forgotten what they did to your mother?”

Cody bristled at that. “No I have not _forgotten_ ,” he spat, clenching his fists but keeping them carefully at his side. His father wore the Tuiga now, rightfully so, and Cody fought not to feel cowed by the striking red feathers that framed his face, or the way the Lave towered over him. “I fought beside you that day. I still say her name every night. But Obi Wan isn’t one of them. He says those were _dar’jetti_ that attacked us, not his people. He says his people are enemies of the ones that killed her.”

“And you believe him?” Jango demanded and then, seeing the earnest look on his son's face, he had to laugh. Cody fought to unclench his fists. “I did not think you were so naive Kote. Perhaps I was wrong to leave you as _Alor_ while I was gone. Perhaps you are not ready.”

Cody grit his jaw and refused to acknowledge the slight movements he could hear from the next room, evidence of his brother’s watching the argument from the edges of the dark.

“Perhaps not, _buir_.” He said slowly, careful of his tone and volume. Jango may not care if the rest of the village heard every word, but Cody had always held been private and did not delight in the idea of being the village gossip. “But you raised me to put our people first. This island is dying. And our people will die alongside it if nothing is done. Maybe you can’t put your pride aside to save their lives, but I can. And I will.”

With that he turned, stomping out into the dead of night, ignoring his father calling his name behind him as easily as the whispers that stopped inside each hut as he passed. 

Cody had been sitting on the beach beside the boats for nearly half an hour before he heard Rex approaching from behind.

His brother sat down close enough that the length of their arms pressed against one another and didn’t speak for a while. When he did his voice was low.

“You alright?”

Cody shrugged. “I guess.” He rubbed his hands down his face and looked out over the water, it looked black in the moonlight. “He never listens.”

Rex shifted beside him. 

“He’s been through a lot. Can’t imagine I’d be too quick to team up with the _Jetti_ if I thought they hurt Ahsoka." He said, carefully. "Try to see it from his side.”

“I don’t have the luxury, Rex.” He shook his head, fists clenching again as the anger and hurt of his father’s accusation reared its head, fresh in his memory. “I remember buir. How could he say I didn't? I remember her eyes. Her voice when she would sing." He reached up and rubbed at his stinging eyes. He didn't cry, there were too many years between him and the raw edge of her loss, but it was a close thing. "I miss her too. But I have an entire village of people to think about. I can’t put my feelings above their lives.”

Rex smiled sadly and squeezed his brother’s shoulder.

“I know. That’s what makes you such a good _Alor_. Even if he can’t always see that.”

Cody bent slightly toward his brother even as he refused to look at him. “My people guide me.” The words were said by rote and then he added, “And so do you. Thank you.” Cody's voice was quiet, sincere in a way they rarely allowed themselves, and forced himself to turn and look Rex in the eyes.

They shone naturally in the moonlight, but Cody wouldn't do him the disservice of calling attention to the tears.

Rex smiled, squeezing his shoulder again before drawing him into his side in a hug. “If I’m guiding this boat we’ll run aground for sure.” He joked and Cody let him break the moment and laughed indulgently. “Now c’mon.”

Cody shook his head and pulled away. “No. I’m not going back.”

“I know that.” He stood and jerked his head toward the village. “I told Jesse to meet us by the trees.”

“Meet us? Why?”

“Just because we weren’t granted the fighting force and fleet of boats we were hoping for doesn’t mean our plans are completely ruined. We’re just going to have to go with plan B.” Rex said, clasping Cody's forearm and yanking him to his feet.

Left with no choice but to be dragged along behind him Cody tried to decide if he remembered actually discussing a Plan B. He shouldn’t have been as surprised as he was when they were close enough to make out the shadows of people standing among the palm trees and bushes along the escarpment.

Obi Wan was the first to step forward, Kix and Jesse behind him carrying several overloaded bundles and a couple fishing poles. Rex turned and led them further down the beach, talking quietly to the couple while Cody faced Obi Wan’s pained expression.

“I’m sorry for causing you problems.”

Cody sighed. “The problems were already there. You just gave them an outlet.” He shrugged. “Maybe I should be thanking you. _Buir_ was mad enough he might disown me. At least I’d get out of the Council Meetings.” He said as light as he could manage.

Obi Wan didn’t smile. “I have a feeling that decision would be to your people’s detriment.”

Cody held the Jedi’s gaze for several moments. His hair shone in the moonlight and the wrinkles around his eyes that told of sleepless nights long before he ever showed up on Motonui. There was sincerity there, and warmth Cody wasn’t accustomed to seeing outside his own hut. He swallowed, feeling oddly buoyed and bit his lip.

“That’s kind of you to say.”

“From what I've observed, it's just the truth. Your father is making a mistake by forcing your hand.”

Cody set his jaw and forced himself to unfold his arms and relax. “Maybe so. But if this is a mistake I will face those consequences. But I gave you my word and I intend to keep it.”

Rex, Kix and Jesse made quick work of loading the boat that had been selected. One of the larger ones, considering there were going to be four full grown men aboard for an undetermined amount of time. It had along, wide rara and a swirl design on the sail. 

Once they'd finished loading Rex jumped down and turned aside to give Kix and Jesse some privacy, their heads bent low and pressed together.

Rex found his eyes wandering up the hillaide to where he coukd see a few huts still had fires lit. He imagined Ahsoka standing at one of the darkened windows, straining to see him through the dark and it made his heart ache.

It was ridiculous, he knew. She was probably already asleep and would have no idea he was gone until the morning.

Somehow that made it worse.

"Fives and Echo will be heartbroken when they realize you've left without them." Jesse said, approaching with an arm wrapped around Kix's waist. Rex nodded, not quite able to pull his eyes away from the village.

"I know. But theres a very good chance we wont be coming back from this." He looked down, finally, his eyes resting on the approaching forms of Cody and Obi Wan before he drew them back to Jesse. "We can't let them take that risk."

Jesse nodded, his hand tightening minutely on Kix's waist. "I know."

Obi Wan climbed up onto the boat. Kix followed, after kissing Jesse one last time and reminding him to have Helix check on Barriss' cough in the morning. 

"I know Kix." Jesse said, giving him a little shove toward the boat and a smile. "Now get going so you can hurry up and come back."

Kix climbed on beside Obi Wan and Cody took a position opposite Rex at the stern of the boat to push it off the beach.

"Jesse," Rex said suddenly, looking torn, "Tell Ahsoka...tell her..."

Jesse stepped forward and grasped his shoulders, pulling him down slightly to press their foreheads and noses together. He closed his eyes.

"I will." Jesse promised, "and she knows."

Rex licked his lips and nodded, he didnt need to see Cody to know the look of guilt and pain on his face and turned toward him before he could speak.

"I'm coming with you. I have your back. Always."

Cody's nod was equal parts grateful and resigned.

They turned as one and silently dug their toes into the sand and pushed. The boat scraped before going silent in the water and Cody and Rex climbed on board.

Arms wrapped around himself, Jesse watched until as the ship grew smaller and smaller, until finally, it disappeared into the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a vague idea of some of the plot points I want to hit in this, both from the movie and from TCW. If there's anything you'd like to see let me know in the comments below. I am a huge fan of twisting canon to fit a fic so I'd love the input.
> 
> Mando'a: 
> 
> Su’cuy - hello  
> ad - daughter/son  
> mand'alor - rightful chief or leader  
> alor - leader, chief, in this context a temporary position bestowed by the Mand'alor
> 
> Cultural Terms:  
> Tuiga - Samoan ceremonial headdress  
> Rara - platform of the canoe, based of the Fijian “camakau”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The voyage begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a nod to a fic I wrote for the Soft Wars AU in this and I'm just gonna go ahead and plug that awesome series while I'm here.

Jesse had only the sound of a growl and the _thud_ _thud_ of feet pounding ground behind him as warning before a force slammed into his back and his face was in the dirt.

_"Shabuir'ad!"_ Crowed the weight on top of him, grabbing his arm and yanking it up and back in a perfect restraint. His shoulder screamed in protest. "Where are they?"

“Ahsoka,” He grunted as she pushed her knee into his kidney, “I was just on my way to find you.”

“Where. Are. They.” She said, the words pushed through her teeth.

Jesse sighed and went limp, letting his face drop into the dirt, trying to take some pressure off his shoulder. It said something about their village that no one but the old women sewing nets from coconut fibers even looked up at the commotion. And then it was only to tell them not to kick dust into the freshly swept out hut.

“Let me up and we can talk.”

Ahsoka went still on top of his back and huffed a little, giving his arm one last shove, which Jesse swore in protest of, before finally releasing him.

Jesse sat up with a groan, glaring up at her and managing his shoulder.

“Don’t look at me like that. I know you know. If it weren’t for your leg you probably would have gone with them.” She spat, arms crossed, hip cocked to one side so that her maro showed off creamy caramel skin to her thigh. Had Jesse been interested in such things he would have appreciated the view.

He stood slowly and turned away, knowing she would follow. 

Jesse didn’t speak until they were in the shadow between two community huts, a little ways from the village center where their voices wouldn’t carry quite as well. Etiquette on a small island made of mostly open doorways and wind that carried voices dictated that, even when one heard something private they would pretend they didn’t. But since marrying into the village ruling Aliit, Jesse had come to appreciate the value of discretion.

Ahsoka would have to learn that one day too.

“You’re right. I was there.” He grabbed her arm when she immediately turned to leave. “But you’re wrong. I wasn’t going to go with them, even without this injury,” he gestured toward his wrapped ankle. “Rex asked me to stay.”

Ahsoka frowned, confused.

“What do you mean? Why would he do that?” Kix and Jesse were nearly inseparable, everyone knew that.

Jesse smiled, soft and warm and it reminded Ahsoka of the time he’d found her sitting under a damaged boat on the beach when she was small. She'd been crying because the other girls had been making fun of her for wanting to surf with the boys. Jesse had coaxed her out of her hiding spot with jokes and a steady hand, giving her confidence to regain her footing and a piggy back ride all the way back to the village.

“You.” He titled his head. “And Jango. If he’d told you they were going you would have insisted to come along.” At Ahsoka’s dull look of confirmation he continued. “He was worried about this battle. If something happened to you he would never forgive himself. He asked me to stay behind to tell you face to face. And he knew Mand'alor was going to be losing his mind over this.” There had been yelling coming from the Council Hut all morning.

Ahsoka shook his head. "He had no right to make that choice for me.”

“Maybe not. But,” Jesse shrugged, looking away, “You remember how Mand’alor was after the battle and losing his wife. And then again last year after the shipwreck. If it weren’t for his boys…” Jesse shrugged again. There were days, so many days, when the agonizing grief had been overwhelming, a pall over the entire village that hung low and heavy like the sky before a storm. Days when Cody was inconsolable and the Mand’alor unreachable. Rex, a lightning rod of emotion for both had born the brunt of their shared grief, to say nothing of his own. Always the more gregarious of the oldest Fett brothers, was never the same after Jango’s wives died.

“After all that, can you blame him for wanting to protect you?”

Ahsoka huffed. “But…I should be there. Beside him where I belong.”

“Trust me I understand the feeling.”

“Well then why aren’t we? What can we possibly accomplish here?” She flung her arms out to the side and pushed down the dark thoughts of not having Rex's back when he needed her most that threatened to crawl inside her head.

Jesse shifted again. “Cody didn’t want the risk the Mand’alor’s ire on anyone else. He went against his wishes going with the _Jetti_. They all did.”

“It was for the good of the people.”

“You and I both know he doesn't see it that way. Its up to you and me to make sure they have a home to come back to when they succeed.”

Ahsoka nodded and took a deep breath and looked at the ground, wrapping her arms around herself. “They will come back, right Jesse?”

Finally, Jesse relaxed and reached forward, tugging her to his chest in a firm hug.

“Of course they will, _vod’ika_.” He kissed her temple. “There’s still a wedding to plan, you know.”

Ahsoka smiled and nodded into his shoulder and hugged him back fiercely. “Right.”

* * *

"I forgot how much I loved this." Cody stood at the very front of the boat, chest out, head tipped back toward the sun. Beside him, Rex smiled.

"I didnt." He inhaled deeply, "I love the way the air tastes this far from shore."

Cody hummed his agreement.

"You think it'll rain later?"

Cody nodded. "I dont think it will storm though."

"That should make things easier."

Something caught Cody's eye carved into the inside edge of the raya. He crouched down and ran his fingertips over the name and smiled. He looked up and saw Rex staring too.

"Did you know this was here?"

His brother shook his head. "She approves of our mission."

Cody laughed a little, tinny and uncertain and looked back and his mother's carved handiwork, pressing his palm over the carving. "I hope so."

Behind them at the other end of the boat, Kix was crouched beside Obi Wan who looked extremely put out by the healer's continued attentions.

"Its fine, Kix." He protested, trying to pull his shirt down.

Kix batted his hands away, continuing to smooth on more healing balm and reapply the bandages to the wound, now more sensitive pink of new flesh than it was the ragged edges of a sword wound.

"Its not fully healed. I want you to take it as easy as you can while we're traveling."

"Kix, really. You're being ridiculous. I can certainly help take care of things..."

"The only thing I want you to worry about taking care of is this wound." Kix interrupted, a different kind if seriousness in his voice that drew Obi Wan up short and made him sit still. Kix held his gaze, dark brown to deep blue. "You are going to have my older brothers' backs when the fighting starts. I won't accept anything less than perfect for them."

Obi wan swallowed, feeling suitably chastised and nodded. He was reminded, suddenly, of the way Anakin would fuss over him, complaining that when he forgot to eat or downplayed injuries he was hurting his brother as well as himself.

_Force_ he missed him. At the thought golden eyes and acidic words flashed through his mind andObi Wan winced.

Kix aplogized without looking up and Obi Wan let him beleive he was the reason, it was easier than the truth.

Not wanting to continue his previous line of thought, Obi Wan turned toward the men at the other end of the boat.

"I think it may rain later." He called out.

Rex turned, nodding. "We were just saying that. But I don't think-"

An odd _bump bump_ noise came from the large storage compartment under the platform and four heads swiveled toward it.

Rex was the first to moved in the silence that followed, Cody a few paces behind him.

When he pulled the access door open he spat something vicious in a dialect Obi Wan didn't recognize.

"What in the depths of Lalotai do you two think you're doing?"

Cody peeked over his shoulder and did some swearing of his own.

Down in the storage area, folded up like they were in utero because the space was big but not quite big enough for two nearly full grown young men, Fives and Echo grinned and squinted in the light.

"Su'cuy ori'vode."

Rex growled, yanking the door open wider and jerked sharply with his chin at them both. "Get out of there."

Kix and Obi Wan came closer, looking various mixtures of curious and amused. Fives stretched languidly as if he wasn't receiving death glares from his two oldest brothers, Echo looking slightly more remorseful beside him. But only slightly.

"Alright, explain yourselves, how did you even get on board?" Rex demanded.

"We heard Cody and Buir arguing." Fives saidimmediately.

"We aren't stupid. We knew you were planning something," Echo added, gesturing toward Obi Wan. "When Buir forbade you we knew you would go anyway. When Rex snuck out after you left, so did we."

Cody threw an accusing glance at his brother, to which Rex just rolled his eyes.

"Well how did you know which boat to get on?" Rex crossed his arms over his broad, tattooed chest. Around his right forearm the geometric Fett Clan tattoo they all wore rippled as he clenched his fists, giving away the anger he was trying to control.

Fives looked him dead in the eye.

"This was buir's favorite boat."

That was what finally got a reaction out of Cody, who had been silent at his closest brother's side, allowing him do the questioning.

Now he swore again and threw his hands into the air, turning to go and sit at the other end of the boat, as far from the stow aways as possible. A few moments later, Kix followed.

"What's he so upset about?" Fives sulked, crossing his own arms. His forearm tattoo was darker than Rex and Cody's. He and Echo had only received theirs a few months before. "You're the ones that tried to leave us behind, remember? Theres no one that wanted off that island more than Echo and me. And you just left us."

"This isn't an adventure we're going in, Fives. We're going into battle. We could die. Can you blame us for trying to keep you out of it?"

"Yeah, well, how you thought you were going to fight an entire army of _dar'jetti_ only the four of you," Echo let his eyes flicker over Rex's shoulder to Obi Wan, "is beyond me. I thought you were supposed to be the strategic one."

Rex rolled his eyes. "This isnt my first battle you know. We have a plan."

"A plan that will probably go smoother with two more fighters." Echo lifted his chin and met Rex's gaze squarely. Looking at the pair, most people thought Fives was the leader. That where Fives went, Echo followed. Rex had taken care of them often enough as children that he knew the opposite to be true. Fives was brash and brazen and wild, yes, because Echo made sure it was safe for him to due so. Fives walked in the lead, but Echo told him where to go. Fives was lost without Echo, but Rex always had the suspicion that Echo would be alright on his own if he ever had to be.

And Echo wasn't wrong. More fighters were always better. And Echo and Fives were some of their best. They weren't children anymore. They were men, Rex realized somewhat suddenly. Broad and strong and tall, Fives even had a few inches of height on him. At some point when Rex wasn't looking, they'd grown up. And they had a right to fight for their people.

Rex sighed, letting his arms drop to his sides. The twins watched him warily as he stepped forward, hooking them both at the back of the neck and pulled them to his chest, earning a pair of startled squeaks.

"You _di'kuts_ ," he whispered around a soft laugh, "thank you."

* * *

Kix dropped down beside Cody, letting his feet fall into the cold water where Cody had himself folded up by the edge, ankles crossed, arms locked around his knees.

"He really is gonna disown me if we don't all make it back from this." He said dully. Kix kicked the water and didn't respond. "Not only did I take his heir, his healer and his favorite son," he tilted his head toward Kix first and then Rex. "Now Echo and Fives..." he broke off and shook his head, "and Boba."

"That was not your fault." Kix cut in sharply. "Boba got on that boat of his own volition."

"After getting into a fight with me."

"Stop it." Kix ordered. Cody shut his mouth and Kix watchrd the muscle in his jaw jump from the pressure. "Boba made his choice. Just like Fives and Echo. Just like all of us. And we're doing this for her. For our people, yes, and our island. But also for our buir, and she was their mother just as much as ours. You were wrong not to ask them to come." Kix watched as Cody held himself perfectly still, his chin not even trembling as tears gathered in his eyes. "But not as wrong as Jango has been to leave you to lead the village all alone when you were still mourning. When we all were. And he has been wrong not to tell you how good you are at it. That our people trust you, and love you. Just like your brothers. I know you're worried about whats going to happen. You and Rex are both talking like we're already dead. But we're not. We have good leaders. And I am confident in you both." He paused, letting his words sink in. Slowly, Cody's tension slipped away some and his shoulders inched down from his ears.

"If nothing else the mess they'll make will distract the _dar'jetti_ enough that the rest of us can actually complete the objective."

When Cody glanced at his normally serious brother his smirk and sparkling eyes startled him and he laughed. He let his feet fall into the water beside Kix's and reached up to rub his face roughly.

"Stars, this is a mess."

Kix snorted. "It is, isnt it? Moana would have loved it."

Cody wasnt sure when his brother had taken to calling their mother by her given name, nor why she'd allowed it when she undoubtedly would have skinned the rest of them if they'd tried it. It just always had been something uniquly Kix, something that was his. Perhaps their buir had known he needed that. The only single born child in a family full of sets of twins, maybe Kix had needed something that made him special, not an oddity, in a crowd of people that seemed to take up twice as much space as they required. Cody always had a built in backup in Rex, the same with Fives and Echo. They were closer than aliit, closer than brothers. Being born without a twin, Kix had always been jealous of the relationship, needing to be tougher and stronger to make up for the lack of a right hand man. Their buir had favored him for it, and the rest of them had never begrudged Kix the bond the two had.

Then Jesse came along. The scout had been good for his brother after buir died. Softened him, sheltered him. Kix had gained confidence Cody hadn't realized he was lacking when he learned that with Jesse he would have that someone in his corner he'd been missing.

Cody nodded. "She would have. Probably would have packed our kit up for us."

Kix chuckled. "Definitely. She loved to sow a bit if chaos. Like Fives and Echo."

"Exactly like them."

They stared out at the water for a few more minutes before Cody sighed. Kix took that as his queue and stood, pulling Cody up alongside him.

"Alright, you two." He said, _Alor_ authority in his voice. The Twins wiggled away from where Rex had them tucked against his chest and looked at him expectantly. Behind them Obi Wan was seated at the stern holding the rudder steady, keeping them on course and allowing the brothers as much privacy as the small boat could manage.

"You're here now so you're gonna do you're part to help out." He nodded to where the fishing poles were tied down. "Why dont you see about caching us something to eat for midmeal?"

The two grinned and ran to the fishing poles, shoving each other and arguing over which got which pole.

Cody rolled his eyes and Kix and Rex both laughed.

"Gods helps us."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some awesome ideas from the comments on the last chap, I'll definitely be thinking about those! Keep 'em coming! The plot (what little of it there is, look it's called Brothers Under the Sun, not Plot and Action Under the Sun, okay?) will start up in earnest next chap. 
> 
> Shabuir'ad - author derived for 'son of a bitch'


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plans and the messes we make of them.

"What are you doing?"

Rex glanced over his shoulder and smiled. "Don’t you ever sleep, Obi Wan?" 

"No," the man said around a yawn. "It used to drive Anakin crazy." Behind him Fives, Echo, Kix and Cody were tangled up in a pile at the middle of the raya near the mast.

"You older brothers are incredibly difficult to deal with." Rex said, sagely.

"And you younger brothers are notoriously ungrateful." He responded without heat. "I'm afraid no matter how hard you reach you wont touch them." He added, nodding toward Rex's outstretched hand.

"Its called wayfinding." Rex said, smirking, and turned back to what he was doing. “I’m making sure we’re heading in the right direction still.”

“And are we?” Obi wan asked, more to make conversation than out of any worry that they’d lost their way. 

Rex nodded, dropping into a crouch and pushing the paddle slightly in the water so that they veered to port. 

“Yes.” 

Obi wan nodded, staring out at the black sky in silence for a while. 

“I envy you, you know.” He said after a few minutes, and Rex looked up, curious. “Your relationship with your brothers.” 

Rex smiled softly. “You’ve seen us during a good stretch. There have been plenty of times when we’ve tried to kill each other.” 

“But you support each other. Trust each other. That is…a beautiful thing.” 

Rex looked up at his companion, but the man seemed to be a thousand miles away. The night wind blew his red hair to the wrong side of his head, his billowy white top buffeting in the silence. 

“You and your brother not like that?” 

Obi wan sighed. “Anakin is…troubled. Confused. He seems convinced I am the enemy when all I’m trying to do is help.” 

Rex blew out a deep breath and stood, looking over his shoulder to where Echo was snoring and Fives had flopped over with a hand dangling in the water. “Sometimes it’s hard for them to accept we know better. And sometimes we think we know better when we don’t.” He turned back to Obi wan and laid a friendly hand on his shoulder. “But try not to worry. We’ll bring your brother home safe. Whether he likes it or not.” He added, playfully. Obi wan forced a smile until Rex turned to go check on the sail and he looked back out over the water. 

He had an uneasy feeling that Rex would turn out to be more right about that than he realized. 

* * *

Ahsoka dipped her chin deferentially. 

“Mand’alor.” She greeted.

Jango took a deep breath, the smile he gave her didn’t quite reach his eyes. 

“ _Ad_.” He nodded back. Ahsoka relaxed just slightly, happy she was still afforded the nickname, even if it was slightly less warm than it had been. 

“I’m glad to see you doing well.” Of course the entire village knew how Jango felt about being all but abandoned by his boys. But the yelling had stopped, the Council Meetings had resumed their normal schedule. For all intents and purposes, it was business as usual on the island. 

“Better, anyway.” Jango said, a self deprecating smile on his face that reminded Ahsoka of Rex. She bit her lip. "Though still..." He broke off and shook his head.

“I know the feeling.” Ahsoka said, stepping further into the Fett hut and wrapping her arms around herself.

Jango nodded, watching her carefully. He turned with a sigh and walked to the large opening of his hut that looked toward the reef and the ocean beyond. 

“You really didn’t know?” 

Ahsoka shook her head. She’d told him as much, when he was dragging every member of the village before the council, questioning them about the boy’s plans and the Jedi interloper. 

“I wouldn’t be here if I did.” 

Jango turned back to look at her and smiled. “No. I suppose not.”

Ahsoka saw then, in the slump of his shoulders, the deep creases of his face, how old the Mand’alor was. How the last week had weighed on him. For all his bluster and righteous indignation over being disobeyed by his sons he was really just so _worried_ for them. 

“Still,” Jango said, after a moment. “I almost wish you were.” He dropped his gaze and then turned to look at her. “At least then I would know they had someone competent watching their backs. I don’t trust the _Jetii_.” 

Ahsoka dipped her chin in acknowledgment and then stepped forward, smiling. 

“Well, I may have an idea about that.”

* * *

Things had not gone according to plan. 

Though that wasn’t entirely Rex’s fault. Or at all really, Obi wan thought as he dispatched another one of the Sith’s hired goons. 

They hadn’t planned on a storm blowing them off course. Or the fog that hung around for a day and a half so that they couldn’t see a boat’s length in front of them, let alone the stars. They hadn’t planned on running across the Sith fleet at all, in fact. And they certainly hadn’t planned on boarding Grevious’ own flagship and executing a hasty reiteration of the original plan. 

But it had seemed like a good idea at the time. 

Obi wan was now having second thoughts. 

Another man fell at Obi Wan’s sword and he grimaced but forced himself to keep moving, eyes scanning the deck of the ship for a familiar head of dirty blonde hair and black clothes. 

The Sith ship felt massive, overwhelming in scale compared to the small boat Obi wan had spent the last week or so on with the Fett’s. They were outnumbered, far outnumbered by the enemy, despite the fact that Obi wan knew the Jedi outnumbered the Sith four to one. The Sith had made up for their deficit with hired mercenaries who fought without style, skill or honor, but rather more like blunt objects that ran headlong into danger fueled by blind, disproportionate rage. He’d heard Echo and Fives calling them clankers, undoubtedly because of the way their gaudy dress, draped in gold chains and buckles clattered noisily with every move they made. 

In the chaos, Obi wan spotted Rex and Kix on the far end of the ship, fighting back to back. Grevious had already fled, the coward, the moment he laid eyes on Obi wan, but he couldn’t help thinking the sight of the Fetts making quick work of his bought army had been a part of his decision. He had seen the men sparring on Motonui, knew their skill on an intellectual level. 

But seeing it in action, Obi wan suddenly had no doubts or difficulty believing that Cody’s people had managed to fend off a Sith invasion all those years ago. They were vicious in their precision, as if born and bred to fight this particular enemy, unrelenting and unapologetic. 

But outnumbered all the same. 

Obi wan saw the ambush first, but was too far away, the deck too noisy and full of battle to be heard when he shouted a warning. 

Several meters away, Echo and Fives fought as one, a lifetime of sparring and preparing for this very enemy giving them an upper hand their youth and inexperience couldn’t quite maintain. 

_“Echo!”_ Obi wan shouted, but it was already too late.

Echo went down hard and fast and Obi wan winced at the sight of blood staining the tan skin. He was running toward them, heedless of the enemies between them before he knew what he was doing. Fives, feeling his brother's sudden absence, turned and dropped to his knees beside him. His flank was left unprotected and a clanker raised his broad blade to deal a deathblow at his back when Obi wan leapt between them, a metallic clang ringing out through the air as he did so. 

“Echo, _Echo_ , oh gods, Echo no don’t!” Fives rambled, his voice and hands shaking. “Kix!” 

Obi wan defended the pair against a newly invigorated attack as the healer slid to the deck beside the youngest boys, Rex on his heels. 

“What happened?” 

“I don’t know! I don't know, he just went down.” 

“Kix, this isn’t the place for this.” 

“You’re right, help me get him back to the boat.” 

“Obi wan!” 

The Jedi nodded and answered without turning, continuing to defend the injured boy at his feet. “I hear you, go on ahead, I’ll find Cody.” 

Obi wan felt a quick hand on his shoulder and with a final lunge, speared a Clanker clean through, sending the man over the side of the ship and crashing into the water below. 

Obi Wan’s eyes swept over the deck, most of the activity had died down, the mercenaries Grevious had bought to man his fleet suddenly deciding they were not being paid quite enough for this kind of resistance and those that were still able bodied to do so were diving over the side to take their chances in the water or had otherwise made themselves scarce. 

Except one. There, on the far side of the ship nearly hidden by the huge center mast, Obi wan caught sight of Cody, still embroiled with battle. 

With a very familiar looking opponent. 

Cody brought his borrowed weapon, a sword Obi wan had called it, up over his head to block the blow. He was young, probably between the Twins and Rex's age, and strong and fast. He was clearly trained better than the Clankers that had mostly peopled the ship. He wore clothes like Obi Wan’s but where Obi wan preferred brown and white, this man’s clothes were deeply dyed hues of blue and black with a red sash tied around his waist. 

He fought eerily silent, hardly even grunting with the weight of his blows, and Cody was calling on every lesson he’d been given to try and hold him back. 

“Why won’t you just _go down_.” When his attacker finally did speak it was a hissing sound, nearer a snarl than actual words and Cody could have sworn his eyes flashed yellow as he put everything he had behind his next swing. Cody staggered backward, barely keeping his feet. 

His opponent wasn’t even out of breath. 

Cody had a very bad feeling about this. 

The man raised his sword again and Cody felt a white hot flash of terror accompanying the realization that he would not get his own weapon up in time to deflect it. 

But just before he swung-

“Anakin, stop!” 

Cody and his attacker both turned to see Obi wan rushing toward them, face desperate and anguished. 

“Anakin?” Cody whispered, almost to himself. _This_ was Obi Wan’s brother? 

“Anakin please,” Obi wan stopped a few steps away. Over his shoulder Cody could see the rest of the Sith fleet had taken notice of their straggling sistership and were turning back, reinforcements his small force were not prepared to deal with on their way. 

“I should have known it was you,” The young man, Anakin’s, voice was gravely and cold, filled with hate that sent shivers up Cody’s spine and he backed a couple steps away. “Traitor!” 

“No, Anakin, that’s Palpatine talking, he’s poisoned your mind.” 

“He’s opened it! He’s helped me to see you for what you really are! You’re afraid of me. You want to hold me back!” The accusations flew with venom and purpose and Cody could see how they wounded Obi wan as if he’d lashed out with the sword he held forgotten in his hand. 

“Anakin no, _please,_ listen to me.” Obi wan had sheathed his own weapon, hands held up, palms out, trying to calm the angry young man. Cody somehow knew it would not be enough. 

_“No!”_ Anakin exploded, whirling around and raising his sword in one darkly graceful move. Cody’s eyes widened, he thought he’d been forgotten and so was foolishly unprepared for Anakin’s attack. But instead of pain and nothingness, as he’d expected, Cody heard a grunt and watched as Anakin was suddenly thrown to one side, falling to the deck of the ship in a tangle of limbs when Obi wan slammed into him. A cry of agony rang out and Obi wan leapt backwards. Anakin was curling around his arm, crying and hissing threats as blood seeped into his clothes and onto the floorboards. 

“Anakin, no, I’m sorry. I'm sorry!” Obi wan tried to crawl forwards but Anakin jerked away, scrambling for his sword and held it shakily out toward his brother with his uninjured hand, keeping the other pressed close to his chest. 

“Stay back!”

“Obi wan! Cody, we have to go!” 

Cody turned to see Rex gesturing frantically from the boat, behind him Fives and Kix were both bent low over Echo, laying prone between them. Glancing back in the other direction he saw the rest of the ships closing in. They would be hard pressed to get away as it was. They were out of time. 

Without another thought Cody reached out and grabbed a fistful of Obi wan’s ridiculously flowy shirt, half dragging him away even as he struggled, reaching out toward his brother who continued to scowl and threaten them with his sword. 

“Anakin!” 

The moment they dropped onto the raya of their boat Rex unfurled the sail and they shot off toward the horizon. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a gamut of emotions are experienced and Cody realizes his father is human.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing in this chapter was a part of the plan. 
> 
> But it might be my favorite so far.
> 
> CW for blood and description of injuries.

Kix hadn't always wanted to be a healer. They were warriors and he’d been raised like his brothers to be a leader and a fighter.

But sitting with his mother in the healer’s tent during the Attack, Kix had cursed himself over and over for his ignorance, for not knowing how to _help_.

_Buir, buir...Mama, please..._

Kix remembered her cold hands, her cloudy eyes. He remembered the way her long, dark hair had spilled across his lap.

He remembered blood on his hands.

_I love you, Kix, ner’ad. Take care of your brothers. Tell your buir..._

He was alone with her when she took her last breath. His brothers and father were leading the fight, driving the dar’jetti from their island. And Kix was here.

_Tell him..._

He'd cried like a child as he gently drew his shaking hands across her face, closing her huge brown eyes, now cold and empty.

_I love you, Kix._

He’d promised himself that day he would never let anyone else he loved die in his arms.

“Kix!”

The healer jolted, his heart jumping into his throat and he looked around frantically, thrown off by the sudden influx of sounds, shouting and crying and the ocean in his ears.

Echo was writhing on the deck, his skin slippery from the blood that was seeping through Fives' fingers. Fives was near hysterical, babbling in Mando'a to his brother who was in too much agony to listen. He was attempting to stem the bleeding from what appeared to be a large, deep gash on Echo's upper arm, and Kix noted clinically that Echo's fingers on that hand weren’t moving. Noted it and filed it away to be dealt with when and if there was something he could do about it.

His eyes ran down Echo’s torso, feeling along with his hands, trying to figure out where the rest of the blood was coming from.

“Kix, what can we do?”

“Just give me a second Rex.” Kix snapped at his brother who knelt near Echo’s feet looking grave, rubbing his foot in a somewhat absent display of comfort and grounding Fives with continue orders to keep up the pressure and _keep talking to him, get his attention, thats it, it’ll be alright, Echo._

Kix swore. “I can’t _see_ anything.”

His hands shook as he attempted to probe for Echo’s injuries and gasped and pulled back when his fingers suddenly slipped into a large, deep gash in his thigh and Echo came up swinging, barely missing Kix’s head and instead landing a hit on his shoulder.

“Okay, alright,” Kix took a deep breath. He was finding his usual detached and clinical headspace was eluding him in this circumstance, still coming down from the adrenaline of the flight and watching Echo’s life force spill onto the platform of the boat.

“Rex, put pressure on this wound. Fives,” Kix caught his brother’s eyes, “get me some water, a good amount.”

Fives nodded and dashed away, rummaging in the storage compartment below the deck for a container.

Kix looked at Rex. “I need you to hold him down. Don’t let him kick you off.”

Rex nodded gravely, and Kix was grateful he didn’t ask what he was planning. Maybe he already knew. He looked to Cody who’d dropped to his knees on the other side of Echo, beside Fives’ spot to put pressure on Echo's arm and received another somber nod and Cody shifted his weight Echo’s waist, getting ready to brace him.

Kix turned back to Echo, whimpering and crying beneath him.

“Kix, _Kix please_.”

“Shhh,” Kix tried to smile, moving a hand into Echo’s hair, ignoring the blood he smeared on him and focusing on the touch. “I’ve got you, alright? You understand? We're all here.”

Echo nodded shakily and scrunched his face up in pain, more tears spilling down his cheeks.

Fives returned and fell to his knees with a large carved bowl full of seawater. Kix nodded.

“Alright.” He caught his younger brother’s gaze even as Fives wound his hands around Echo’s again. “Fives, this isn’t going to be pretty, if you need to…”

“No!” Echo shouted, clinging to his brother. At the same time, Fives shook his head.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“Okay. Don’t let him move.” Kix glanced at Rex who nodded again and then looked at Echo. “I have you, alright, vod’ika? But this gonna hurt. I have to clean the wounds so I can see what I'm treating. If you feel yourself losing consciousness, _do not fight it,_ you hear me? Go to sleep. Alright, Ey'ika?”

Echo’s eyes went wide with fear but he nodded. “Yes, Kix, okay. Kix? It hurts.”

“I know.” Kix took a steadying breath and reached for the water. He bit his lip. “I’m sorry, Echo.”

  
  
Before the kid could respond, Kix started pouring.

And Echo _screamed_.

Cody’s world had narrowed to this small, bloodstained section of his mother's boat and the bandage he and Kix were winding as quick as possible around the terrifying wound in Echo's leg. Beside him Fives was sobbing, whispering to his brother who, despite his promise, was clearly fighting unconsciousness, grinding his teeth and screaming in turn. Kix’s face was a stone mask of grim determination, cracked only by his constant muttered _go to sleep go to sleep please Echo go to sleep._ On Cody’s other side Rex was wrestling to keep Echo still, his tears were silent and steady, his eyes locked on Echo’s face.

Finally, _finally_ , Echo slipped into unconsciousness and Fives bowed low to press his forehead to his brother’s chest. Without his resistance Kix’s wrapping took on speed and he was done only a few minutes later.

Their middle brother sat back on his haunches and bowed his head. Slowly, Cody watched as Kix crumpled in the ensuing silence, his shoulders started to shake, his back bending forward and his breathing turned harsh and ragged. Before he could completely fall apart Rex was there, throwing his arms around his brother and pulling him to his chest. Kix pressed into him and smeared Echo’s blood across his skin as he clutched at his arms, sobbing into his shoulder.

Cody couldn’t move. He sat frozen, watching his brothers cry over one another, wondering how he would ever make this up to them.

Knowing he never could.

“Cody, I’m so sorry.”

A hand landed on his shoulder and Cody realized he’d completely forgotten about the boat’s other occupant.

_Obi Wan_.

In the blink of an eye Cody was on his feet and had swept the Jedi’s out from under him. The redhead slammed down onto the deck and Cody followed, pinning a forearm across his neck.

“You. You _lied_ to me.” He snarled, shaking with poorly contained rage.

“Cody!”

Cody ignored his brother’s voice and stared down into Obi Wan’s blue eyes, wide with shock.

“Your brother is a dar’jetti. You _knew_.” He shifted to kneel on top of Obi Wan’s free hand, pinning him securely. “Was that your plan all along? To finish what you started ten years ago when you attacked us?”

Fear and shock gave way to grief and then anger in Obi Wan’s face. “Cody no. I would never. We didn't! You have to believe me!”

“I don’t have to believe anything. I already believed you and look what it got me.” He gave the Jedi a shake, bumping his head against the deck. “You knew, admit it!”

“Yes I knew.” The Jedi shot back, strained, his air supply growing scarce as Cody’s forearm pressed on his windpipe. Cody felt hands trying to pull him back but resisted, pressing harder. “But I believed I could save him. I believe it still!”

“Shabuir’ad! You lied to us!”

“I didn't ask you to come!”

The fight was leaking out of the Jedi and the hands on Cody's arms finally succeeded in pulling him off him. Obi Wan coughed, gasping for breath. 

“I’m sorry Cody. I never wanted this to happen. I swear it.” Obi Wan whispered, face red from exertion, rubbing his neck.

“You’re sorry? _You're sorry?”_ Behind him Kix looked haunted and pale, Fives had laid down and curled around his brother, pressing the entire length of his body against his twin. “Your brother isn’t the one bleeding out on the deck of a boat.”

Obi Wan stared back at him. His face fell. “I’m afraid we don’t know that, Cody. We left before I could be sure.”

Cody's face remained impassive and made no move to respond so Obi Wan stood and turned away, walking back to the other end of the boat to stare at a long off spot on the horizon.

“We’re headed toward the islands of Coruscant.” Obi Wan said without turning around. “I have friends there, they'll be able to help Echo.”

It was as good of a destination as any, and it hadn’t been a question.

So Cody didn’t respond.

* * *

The rest of the day and the following night were spent in tense silences broken by only the bare minimum necessary communication. Fives helped Kix tend to Echo, carefully cleaning him of the blood and doing his best to tend to his injuries, though as time wore on he seemed to be looking forward to arriving on the Core Island. None of the Fett’s had ever been to the string of islands named Coruscant, but their father had spoken of it often enough they knew of it. A reliable trading port if not a bit tame for their Buir’s tastes.

Rex seemed displeased with Cody, not that he cared to pursue the reasoning on that, and had fallen into an intermediary position rather easily, keeping peace as much as possible between the rest.

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief when the large land masses started to grow on the horizon.

Kenobi sheared their boat toward a medium sized island, avoiding the rows of boats and activity at the large ones. He expertly navigating sand bars and underwater rock formations, and brought them toward a narrow, tree-lined beach.

Before they’d even finished pulling the boat ashore people started streaming out from the trees. Most were dressed like Obi Wan, with loose fitting layers of fabric. Many carried the weapon of the Jedi.

Obi Wan jumped down and ran to greet a short woman with white robes and wide set eyes. After a hug and exchanging just a few words, he led her back to the brothers.

“This is Bant, she's the best healer on the isles of Coruscant." 

The woman nodded her greeting, eyes already zeroed in on Echo.

"I'm familiar with sabre wounds.” She reached out toward Echo but paused, locking eyes with Kix. “With your permission?"

Kix hesitated only long enough to look down at his brother. Echo had only woken a few times on the journey and now his skin was covered in a sheen of sweat that belied the cool ocean breeze sweeping up the beach.

“Yes, of course. Please.”

“Please help him.” Fives added, both hands curled around Echos’ limp one.

Bant nodded and motioned quickly to a pair of people standing further up the beach holding a stretcher.

“I’ll bring him to my offices. Would you like to come?” She asked, voice low and kind. “I could use an extra set of hands.”

This time Kix didn’t hesitate and he and Fives made their way off the boat and were swallowed up by the crowd and then disappeared into the trees moments later.

Obi wan locked eyes with Cody through the people gathered around the boat. They were too far away to speak, though the look that passed between them spoke volumes. Cody looked away first, prompting Obi Wan to turn and disappear into the crowd.

Rex stepped up to his brother’s side.

“I’ve made a mistake, Rex.” Cody said. Rex hadn’t heard him sound that guilty since the day they’d found out about Boba. “And now Echo is paying the price.”

Rex shook his head, pulling his brother around to face him, but Cody refused, keeping his eyes downcast.

“You didnt do anything, Cody. Echo and Fives have both had their _Ta Moko._ They are men." Rex squeezed his shoulders. "Echo is a man and he made a choice. You've got to start letting him live with them…” Rex paused, when his brother still refused to look at him Rex exhaled sharply. “Look, I’m not saying I blame him, but…theres certainly no blame due to your shoulders. You take on too much, ori’vod. Not everything is your fault.”

Cody shook his head. “I should have protected them.”

Rex sighed. He wasn’t sure he’d ever win this argument. “Cody-“

“Rex!”

Both men turned at the shout from down the beach. A small figure was running toward them, splashing in the waves that crashed on the shore, black hair flying in the wind behind them.

Rex narrowed his eyes, squinting in the early morning sun.

“Ahsoka?”

“Rex! _Rex!”_

A grin split Rex’s face. He leapt down from the boat and took off at a run.

“Ahsoka!”

Between them the people on the beach parted as the young lovers sprinted down the sand toward one another. They collided at near full force, Rex sweeping her up into his arms and spinning in the waves. Ahsoka threw her arms and legs around him, knocking Rex off balance and the ocean broke their fall.

“Rex, Rex. You’re here. You’re alive!” Ahsoka shouted gleefully, sprawled across Rex’s chest where they laid at the edge of the water. She peppered every bit of skin she could reach with her kiss.

“ _Cyare_ , _ner’nau_ Ahsoka. Ahsoka.” Her name had always been the only prayer Rex needed and it spilled from his lips over and over again under her ministrations. He pulled her close, hardly noticing the way the waves that swept over their legs and grains of sand stuck between them.

“You stupid _di’kut._ Don’t you ever leave me like that again. You don't get to skip saying goodbye to me.”

“Never,” Rex promised. He kissed her cheek, her lips, her eyes. “Never again I swear it _cyare_. Forgive me.”

“You’re lucky I like you.” She grinned at him, the ends of her hair dripped water on his chest when she leaned back to look at him fully. “I missed you.”

Rex couldn’t contain his smile. “Marry me.”

Ahsoka’s blue eyes went wide. “What?”

“Now. When we get back. Just…I don’t want to wait anymore. Marry me. Raise warriors with me.”

Ahsoka just laughed. Bending down to capture his lips again.

“Ohh, we will. Sooner than you think.” She whispered in his ear.

Rex’s heart stuttered in his chest and he grabbed her by the arms, pushing her back so he could sit up. His eyes drifted her body and then back up again.

_“Haat?”_

Ahsoka beamed. _“Ori’haat.”_

Rex barked a laugh and snatched her back up into his arms.

Their joyous laughter mingled with the sound of crashing waves traveled down the beach back to where Cody looked on, still on the platform of the boat. Even in his darkened mood their happiness brought a small smile to his face and he watched Rex roll over, pinning Ahsoka beneath him and pressing kisses all over her exposed midriff.

He wondered what that was all about.

“Kote.”

Somewhat distracted, Cody was already turning toward the voice before the name registered.

No one here would have any reason to call him that.

Except…

“Buir?” His voice was filled with disbelief as he looked at his father who stood in the sand on the other side of the boat. “What are you…” He glanced back over’s shoulder to where Ahsoka and Rex had shifted again, the girl now spread across his brother’s lap, foreheads pressed close and eyes closed, mouths moving with words too quiet to carry.

He turned back. “How did you _both_ get here?”

“I have been to these islands before, you know.” Jango said with a hesitant smile. “We needed supplies on our voyage to find you. And I thought the Jetii temple might be a good place to start.”

Cody’s eyebrows drew together. “Find us? Why?”

His father raised a hand toward him. "Come down here, please? I need to talk to you."

Cody did, dropping into the sand and ankle deep water. He shifted, feeling uncomfortable under the weight of his father’s stare. Jango didn’t appear too eager to start a conversation either, regardless of his previous request.

“Did you hear about Echo?" Cody blurted out.

"What about him?" Jango froze and went a little pale. His voice sounded as close to frightened as Cody had ever heard it.

"He's injured. I don’t…I’m not sure how badly.” _Badly enough._

"Kix?"

"He's with him."

"Then he'll be fine.” Some of the tension left his frame and he nodded to himself.“I trust him."

Cody nodded, having long ago come to terms with his father’s expectations and the fact that he would never live up to them. He kept his expression neutral and his gaze locked on the treeline beyond.

“Of course, buir.”

They walked in silence for a few moments before Jango’s uncharacteristically quiet voice broke it.

"Almost as much as I trust you."

The words were soft, painfully sincere and Cody’s heart leapt up into his throat. He drug his eyes to Jango’s face, carefully, _so carefully._

He yearned for the words to be truth, but couldn’t help searching his father’s expression for the lie. When he found none it almost made the weight of guilt on his shoulders more unbearable. His chest hurt.

"You shouldn’t.” His voice was a painful croak and he breathed carefully through his nose and the tears threatening to ruin his composure. “You were right. About everything. The Jetii are liars.”

Jango tilted his head. “The Jetii are the ones who attacked us?"

“No." Cody thought of Bant and the other Jedi who had greeted them on the beach. “I think that was dar'jetii like Obi Wan said."

"Then, his brother was not with them?"

"He was.” Cody frowned at the memory. “But he wasn’t a hostage…he was one of them."

“I see. So Obi Wan told you his brother was a hostage?"

"Well...no."

Jango raised an eyebrow, hands clasped behind his back. “Then when did he lie?"

"He didn’t tell us his brother had joined the dar'jetii." Cody said, bitter anger seeping into his tone. He’d _trusted_ Obi Wan. Risked _everything_ for him.

Jango nodded.

“And would it have changed your mind if he had? I know you Kote, I saw your face that night. You were determined to help that man save his brother. As determined as you would have been if it had been Rex in his place.” He huffed, looking a little bit ashamed and let his gaze slip away from his oldest son’s face. “It was part of why I didn’t want you to go. I’ve never seen you act that way about someone that wasn’t Mando’ade.”

Cody stared at his father’s face. Jango Fett, the Mand’alor, had always been a bulwark, relentless and unmoved by anything Cody did. He felt as if he was floundering, floating unmoored on a stormy sea when faced with this strange, uncertain version of his father. As if the anchor that held him in place his entire life had suddenly been cut and he was faced with a mere man standing where the larger than life persona of his father used to be.

“I thought…at the time I thought I was doing the right thing.” He managed, almost hoping to rekindle the argument that had exploded between them that night. At least that would be familiar.

“You were, Kote. Helping the helpless is what you do best. Maybe that’s why Te Fiti’s Force brought Obi Wan to you. His brother needed help, who can blame him for asking for it?”

Cody frowned at his father, shaking his head in disbelief. Was he… _defending_ the Jetii?

“I don’t understand…you threatened to disown me for wanting to help him…are you trying to tell me I did the right thing?”

Jango looked him in the eyes. “I am.”

Cody reached up absently to rub his chest. Why did it _ache_ so badly?

“No. I didn’t." He shook his head feeling miserable and alone. "I should have turned us around when we found Echo and Fives on board. I should have protected them. Now Echo’s hurt and it’s all my fault. I'm sorry buir. I'm sorry about Echo and Boba and I'm sorry I didn't-“

Cody didn’t realize he was crying, but he felt huge, warm arms wrap around him and his face was pressed to solid muscle and skin that smelled like _Home_.

“No Kote, please. It’s not your fault. I never blamed you.”

His father’s voice was a warm rumble in his chest and Cody found himself pressing closer to it, wishing to cocoon himself in the sound and the feeling of childlike safety it filled him with. Jango's arms tightened around him in response.

“Forgive me, my son. Forgive your foolish father for never telling you. You make me so proud.”

Cody wasn’t sure how long they stood there. How long it took for the tears to stop flowing and the ache in his chest to loosen and fall away. His father held him like he hadn’t since before Tup was born, maybe even before that, and he couldn’t bring himself to pull away.

The beach had long since been deserted. Cody and Jango sat on the edge of his mother’s boat, feet dangling just above the water as the sun inched toward the horizon.

“What…” Cody hesitated, glancing over at his father, taken aback again by how… _human_ he looked like this. How young. He slouched beside him in the golden glow of evening the way Cody would with his brothers. “Um...”

“What changed my mind?”

Cody nodded.

His father sighed deeply. “Many things. Some of the things you said that night. The fact that your brothers all went with you with no hesitation. The people of the village. I realized…I am the Mand’alor in their mind…but _you are_ in their hearts.”

Cody went still, afraid to breathe. But he didn’t get much time to process before his father continued, a small smile growing on his face.

“And…”

“And what?”

“Ahsoka.” Jango chuckled lowly, shaking his head. “She convinced me I was being a bit of a di’kut.”

Cody blinked. “You’re kidding.”

Jango turned his smile to his son.

“She’s got quite a mouth on her.”

Turning to look back at the sunset, Cody sighed around a short laugh.

“If Rex doesn’t marry her, I will.”

“Oya.” His father replied softly.

After the sun had gone down the two made their way off the beach and up a small path into a large cleared area with small mudbrick houses built around a huge domed building in the center.

Cody was admiring the incredible structure, the biggest he'd ever seen, when their attention was drawn to voices coming from between some houses to their right.

Obi Wan’s red hair caught the moonlight easily, along with the stripe of yellow across his companion’s face.

They hadn’t been seen yet and Cody was glad, moving to slink further into the shadows.

“Where are you going?” Jango caught his arm.

“I can’t…I’m not ready to talk to him yet, buir.”

“Kote,” he stepped in close and took his son by the face, one large hand on either cheek. “Do not make your fathers mistakes. Don't punish others for being human. Your understanding and compassion is what your mother loved most about you.”

Cody swallowed hard. “Buir…”

His father pulled him forward and his eyes fell shut at the feeling of his forehead and nose pressed against his own.

“Your friend needs your help, Kote. We will stand beside you when you give it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mando'a: 
> 
> ner'ad - my son  
> haat - truth (really?)  
> ori'hat - it's the truth I swear (no bull)  
> ner'nau - my light  
> oya - mando call to action (Let's hunt!)
> 
> Maori/Samoan Cultural Terms: 
> 
> Ta Moko - [As a rite of passage, the Maori used Ta Moko for both male and female initiation. For males it was a sign of readiness for adult duties, marriage, reproduction and fighting.](https://mightywrites.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/maori-ta-moko-a-ritual-of-passage-a-study-of-tattoing/)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comment if you like.


End file.
